February 3, 2013
Please Silence All Electronic Devices
- Jeremiah 1:4-10
- Dr. Teri Thomas
It has been said that what we can accomplish in life really depends on who we know.
I disagree. I would suggest this morning that what we can accomplish in life depends almost entirely on who knows us.
So who knows you? Really. All about you deep down, inside and out?
There are things my mother knows about me that no one else knows.
But there are a lot of things that my mother doesn’t know about me.
For which she should be very grateful.
There are things Jack knows that you don’t know.
You would expect that after 16 years of marriage.
But there are probably a few things some of you know that Jack doesn’t.
Is there anyone who really knows you? All of you?
Jeremiah is a case in point. He thought he knew himself.
He knew himself well enough to know he did not want to be a prophet.
So when God called and told him to preach to the nations
Jeremiah said- No, God! I am just a kid. I can’t.
I know my limits. I am setting healthy boundaries here God.
This prophet business is not in my skill set. Ask someone else please.
But God said - Jeremiah- Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations
I know you better than you know yourself and you have what it takes.
One of the things that some of you may know about me is that I am easily bored.
I can sit for hours with a good book
but there is not much else I have found that holds my attention very long.
For that reason I finished high school in three years
I finished college in three years
and I finish seminary in 2 and ½ years.
So when I was ordained I was still pretty young.
And while I was still young
I, of course, knew everything.
I knew that I wanted to be like Jeremiah-
so I selected this text to be preached at my ordination.
I put Jeremiah up on a pedestal. He is, after all, a prophet in the Bible.
He speaks for God. He answered the call and preached to the nations.
You know what Jeremiah is besides a prophet?
Jeremiah was a complainer. If you read the rest of the book, you hear Jeremiah complain to God, to the people, to anyone who will listen. Jeremiah has complaining down to an art form.
By giving me Jeremiah as a role model God obviously knew me better than I knew myself.
The vast majority of us have not been called to be a prophet to the nations. Most of you haven't been called to ordained ministry. So what does Jeremiah's call have to do with you?
Before God formed you in the womb God knew you,
and before you were born God consecrated you;
God appointed you to your calling.
We all have a calling from God.
* Calls to be artists or musicians or dancers.
* Calls to keep others safe, fix streets, or build automobiles.
* Calls to work with the homeless and the hungry and refugees, and with the earth.
* Calls to be good accountants and bankers and teachers and doctors.
* Calls to be good moms and dads and grandparents and neighbors.
There is not one person in this room who has not been called by God.
All of us are known by God.
God will supply everything we need to fulfill our callings.
And when we do fulfill our callings, not only will it be good for us, but it will be good for the world.
There are lots of voices out there and in here telling you what you are called to do.
Parents
Teachers
Friends
Supervisors
Pastors
There are as many voices as there are cells phones, twitter accounts and facebook pages in your life. Sometimes they are overwhelming. Often they are confusing.
Even Jesus heard different voices telling him how to be the Messiah
come home
go away
heal me
cure yourself
Contemporary author and theologian Frederick Buechner wrote-
There are all kinds of different voices calling you to do all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God, rather than that of society, say, or the super-ego, or self-interest. By and large a good rule for finding out is the following: the kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work that you most need to do, and that the world most needs to have done.
If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing deodorant commercials, the chances are you've missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you've probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you're bored and depressed by your work, the chances are that you've not only bypassed (a), but probably aren't helping your patients much either.
Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.
Source: Wishful Thinking
Before God formed you in the womb God knew you,
and before you were born God consecrated you;
God appointed you to your unique calling.
God knows you totally, loves you anyway and has a call for you.
Thanks be to God. Amen.